Chapter 43: The Fake Thief Monkey

After Dunkin logged out, Levan spoke.

"Now all that's left is to wait for those guys, whenever they might show up."

"When do you think that'll be?"

"Who knows. They're probably just waiting for the perfect moment."

"Will you be alright by yourself?"

"What could possibly happen? It’s not my life they're after, but the information I have, I bet."

"Still, just in case, let me give you my phone number. If anything happens, log out immediately and contact me."

"Oh, is that really okay?"

"Of course. If I’ve promised to help, I’ll help you properly."

How can someone be this kind-hearted?

Levan was handed a slip of paper from the Guildmaster with the Guildmaster's phone number written on it.

"I can't just sit around waiting either, so I'll go hunting for a bit. I'll let the other guild members know, so contact me whenever you need anything."

"Yes! Thank you, Guildmaster!"

"Alright then."

After the Guildmaster, who had promised to help, left, Levan was finally alone.

Left by himself, Levan loosened his neck muscles and muttered,

"Let’s see. Looks like the worst is over for now… Now all that's left is waiting for a reply from HQ and the Black Guild."

Honestly, if he could, he would have liked to hire at least one bodyguard to stick close by.

Because Dunkin had told him about the way those guys kidnap and imprison people.

But since he’d decided to be the bait himself, he chose to endure this level of fear.

‘Guess I’ll just work on some quests in the meantime.’

No point just sitting around.

Might as well do some work.

Because of the sudden call from the Busan Couple, Levan hadn’t been able to open the Epic Cube until now, so he finally started to solve it.

Clack, clack—

[You have successfully solved Rubix’s Epic Cube.]

[An Epic Quest has appeared.]

Pavat!

[Catch the Fake Thief Monkeys.]

-Grade: Epic, Special, Unique, Chain.

-Condition: Catch 10 fake thief monkeys appearing around the Kingdom of Pasna.

-Reward: Rubix’s Epic Cube, Rubix’s Skill Cube Fragment, Rubix’s Treasure Cube Fragment.

‘Fake thief monkeys?’

He knew what a thief monkey was.

Thief monkeys were monkey-like thieves that lived around the Kingdom of Pasna, stealing crops or household goods from villagers and running away.

But the idea that some of them were fakes was new to Levan.

‘Where did these thief monkeys come from, all of a sudden?’

Still, if the quest says to do it, he’ll do it.

Since it's a chain quest, he figured it must be linked to previous quests.

After confirming the quest, Levan suddenly remembered to check his achievement information.

[Honorary Count of Pasna]

-Condition: Be officially appointed by Evergrand, King of the Kingdom of Pasna.

-Option: Free access to the royal palace of Pasna, exemption from #Noble Insult Crime, ability to exercise #Noble Rights in the Kingdom of Pasna.

"Not much to see here."

He didn’t care about the rest, but being exempt from the Noble Insult Crime seemed pretty useful.

As for what noble rights entailed, he didn’t care much, so he didn’t bother to check the options.

Levan then checked his status window.

"Status window, check."

[Levan]

-Level: 40

-Divine Seat: Rubix

-Class: Warmage

-Title: Honorary Count of the Kingdom of Pasna

-Affiliation: #Herum #Freedom

-Stats

Strength 123 (+5)

Perception 19 (+5)

Intelligence 37 (+20)

Dexterity 14

-Special

Movement Speed +10% in combat

Movement Speed +5% out of combat

Skill cooldown -20%

*Pasna Contribution Points 503,000

-Remaining Stat Points: 2

"Hmm."

If there was any change, it was that the 'Title' section had appeared in the status window.

And that Levan had reached level 40. He invested all his remaining stat points into Strength.

‘The title isn’t that useful, but at least the badge looks cool. Is this why people get obsessed with power?’

He wasn’t sure, but it was probably better to have it than not.

Then, Levan's gaze fell to his Strength stat, which had now reached 125.

‘Strength 125 at level 40... That’s some ridiculous growth. With this much strength, maybe it’s time to change up my item setup…’

Until now, his growth had been so fast, and hunting had never felt inconvenient, so he hadn’t felt the need to worry about item setups.

But now, he figured he needed to start paying more attention, because—

‘There are too many enemies. The Black Guild, Ratel… I never know when or where those guys might pick a fight.’

So before going to hunt blue thief monkeys, Levan decided to change his item setup for the first time in a while.

‘I've got 80 million gold saved up. Might as well do a little flexing for once.’

With a big smile on his face, Levan opened the auction house.

---

After passing the Sad Plains, you reach the Pasna Perimeter Road, where thief monkeys are everywhere.

The Perimeter Road is the first place people who gave up on the Sad Plains’ gross bugs go to with hope in their hearts.

But the higher your expectations, the bigger your disappointment.

Compared to the giant insects of the Sad Plains, monkeys seem like a joke, but once you actually face the thief monkeys, all you can do is swear.

The reason is simple.

"Ugh, this is so annoying. Hey, let’s just go somewhere else."

"Yeah, I’m done too. Missing once or twice is one thing, but this is just a joke. What even is this?"

It's because of the monkeys’ notorious agility.

"Aaagh! So annoying!"

"I wish I could just tie those bastards up and beat them to a pulp."

Thief monkeys may look like monkey monsters, but their nature is that of a thief.

They never engage in close combat; instead, they run away annoyingly and throw things like rocks at you—that’s their specialty.

So, even if you form a party, if you don’t have any crowd control skills to keep them in place, thief monkeys are never easy prey.

On top of that, if one monkey gets attacked, the rest begin to gather, chasing the player to the ends of the field. And while chasing, they taunt you and pelt you with stones.

That’s why, for most players, thief monkeys are a monster to avoid in Pasna.

But it was different for Levan.

"Hold."

[Hold is activated.]

Tzing-!

7…

6…

"Thunder Strike."

[Thunder Strike is activated.]

"Hup!"

[Critical Hit!]

[You have hunted a thief monkey.]

For Levan, the thief monkeys’ agility wasn’t a problem. After all, he had a great crowd control skill: Hold.

‘Now the level difference isn’t that big.’

Levan was level 40.

The thief monkeys were in the high 40s.

In other words, the level difference wasn’t enough to reduce the effectiveness of Hold anymore.

Moreover, with his newly acquired bookmark effect, Levan could use Hold twice in a row, so most thief monkeys would never escape his grasp.

‘Never thought I’d get to hunt thief monkeys to my heart’s content.’

If he hadn’t learned Hold, even Levan would never have dreamed of hunting thief monkeys back in his blunt weapon warrior days.

But now, being able to use Hold twice in a row, thief monkeys were easy prey for him.

"Item loot."

Levan looted the corpse of the thief monkey he had just hunted.

He’d been hunting for an hour already, but still hadn’t found any special drops.

Still, with his fast hunting speed, picking up loot felt rewarding.

‘Glad I switched weapons. This hunting speed is insane.’

As he looted, Levan admired his new weapon all over again.

His new weapon.

Its name was none other than Black Iron Club.

The information on Black Iron Club was as follows.

[Black Iron Club]

-Grade: Rare.

-Requirement: Strength 120 or higher.

-Durability: 500/500

-Options

Physical Attack Power +150.

Smash Attack Power +20%.

Most people, when shopping, consider one thing above all.

That is, cost performance.

Unless you’re filthy rich and care only about aesthetics, most people consider cost-effectiveness extremely important.

So did Levan.

Levan was twenty years old.

He was earning more than most people his age, but he’d never once thought of himself as rich.

So, while not a miser, he always tried to spend money efficiently.

Black Iron Club was proof of that.

‘Why didn’t I think of black iron before?’

Black iron is the heaviest and hardest of all irons, essential for making heavy armor.

But while it’s an essential material, very few items are made entirely of black iron.

The reason is simple.

It's just too heavy.

So while black iron is often used to boost attack and defense on weapons and armor, it's never used alone.

Items made purely of black iron are so heavy that unless you have a ton of strength, most people find them a burden to use.

But from that perspective, a blunt weapon made entirely of black iron—the Black Iron Club—was the perfect choice for Levan.

‘It used to be considered garbage, but now it’s the best bang-for-your-buck item.’

To use Black Iron Club, you need at least 120 Strength.

But most blunt weapon warriors don’t reach 120 Strength until after level 100.

By that point, they usually have at least a couple of attack skills to replace Smash.

So, for many reasons, there are plenty of better, stronger weapons than the Black Iron Club, which is heavy and has mediocre options, so no one bothers with it.

That’s why Levan was able to buy it cheaply at auction.

‘The cooldown reduction on Holm’s Club was nice, but there’s no way I’d give up more than double the physical attack just for that.’

No matter what, the most important stat for a damage dealer is always physical attack power.

So Levan boldly ditched Holm’s Club and chose Black Iron Club.

After looting the dead thief monkey, Levan set out to find his next target.

‘But seriously, where are the fakes?’

The reason he’d come here was for the quest: to catch fake thief monkeys.

But he’d already hunted dozens and still had no idea how to tell the real from the fake.

‘Have there ever been fake monsters?’

So, with nothing but guesswork, Levan wandered the Perimeter Road, hunting thief monkeys.

But after more than an hour of roaming the field, he still couldn’t figure out the difference between real and fake.

That’s when—

[A boss monster is being summoned.]

"Huh?"

After more than an hour of hunting around the Perimeter Road, Levan ran into something he hadn’t expected.

It was the area’s boss monster.

Levan’s eyes went to the name tag above the boss’s head.

[Big Boss Monkey / Lv. 54]

‘Can’t believe I’m actually meeting that guy.’

On his previous character, he’d always avoided thief monkeys, so he’d never seen the Boss Monkey.

But now, since he was the only player hunting in the Perimeter Road, it made sense that he’d eventually meet the boss.

Kreeee…

"So ugly."

Thief monkeys, in a way, are cute.

Small bodies, fluffy fur unlike real monkeys.

But the Boss Monkey, being a boss, had a body as big as a gorilla, short fur, and a hard mohawk.

Not to mention its fierce eyes.

Even worse, from Levan’s memory, the Boss Monkey’s real terror was—

KIIIIIIIK!

[The Boss Monkey roars.]

[Due to the roar, thief monkeys gather to the Boss Monkey.]

...its ability to gather its minions in one place.

Proof of that: several thief monkeys that had been scattered around now had red exclamation marks above their heads.

‘Ah, that’s a problem.’

There were about five thief monkeys in Levan’s line of sight.

The monkeys themselves weren’t scary.

The problem was when the thief monkeys, who attack from range, bunched up.

Because Levan was a melee damage dealer.

Then, he noticed something odd.

‘Why doesn’t that one have an exclamation mark?’

An exclamation mark above the head meant that the monkey responded to the Boss Monkey’s call.

But the one Levan spotted, even though it was in range of the roar, didn’t respond.

‘Could it be?’

A reasonable suspicion flashed through Levan’s mind. And suspicions are best checked directly.

Levan immediately cast a spell.

"Energy Bolt."

[Energy Bolt is activated.]

Shuaaah!

With the spell, a sphere of magical energy formed in his hand. Tuned with a 33-cube, it would last for 3 seconds.

Meaning, as long as he could hit within 3 seconds, he could throw the Energy Bolt like a baseball.

Like a pitcher, Levan wound up and threw the Energy Bolt at the suspicious thief monkey.

Whoosh—Bang!!

[Critical Hit!]

[Summoned Creature: Thief Monkey is unsummoned.]

‘A summoned creature?’

He found the fake.